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Francis Wolff
}} Francis Wolff (1907 or 1908 in Berlin, Germany – March 8, 1971 in New York City, United States) was a record company executive, photographer and record producer.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1339880 "It's a bit of an irony that the Blue Note label — synonymous with jazz, the seminal American music form — was created by two German immigrants. In Blue Note Records, The Biography, author Richard Cook tells the story of Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, who formed the label in 1939." A Narrow Escape from Nazi Germany Wolff began his career as a commercial photographer in Germany. Seeing the danger of remaining in Nazi-controlled Germany, Wolff emigrated to the United States. In fact, he caught the last boat out of Germany bound for America in 1939 for New York, where his childhood friend Alfred Lion, had co-foundedAlfred Lion co-founded Blue Note with silent partner Max Margulis, who soon dropped out of any involvement in the company. Blue Note Records. He invited Wolff to join him in the business. Wolff Joins Lion at Blue Note Wolff joined Lion in running the company, but had to take a "real" job as a commercial photographer during the day to help run the business at night, which was principally when Blue Note's recording sessions were held. Major Contributions One of Wolff's major contributions to the label, and to the history of jazz, are thousands of rare and amazing photographs of some of the legendary performers from those recording sessions at Blue Note. Many of the photographs found their way on to the covers of Blue Note albums. Wolff shot almost every Blue Note Session from 1939 to 1967, many of which are now considered classics, and he himself has become recognized as one a great artist of jazz photography. He never gave their historical or independent art history significance much thought. They were simply a means of producing cover art for the albums. }} Pitching in During WW II During Lion's war service, Wolff worked for Milt Gabler at the Commodore Music Store, and together they maintained the company's catalog until Lion was discharged. Until Lion retired in 1967, Wolff concentrated on the financial affairs of the business and only supervised occasional recording sessions produced during his visits to Europe to see surviving members of his family. For the last four years of his life, when Blue Note was no longer an independent label, Wolff shared production responsibilities with pianist and arranger Duke Pearson. Francis Wolff took photographs during the recordings sessions, usually shot during session rehearsals, throughout the period of Lion's involvement in Blue Note Records. They were used on publicity material and LP album sleeves, and have continued to be used in CD reissue booklets. The two collections of photographs listed below contain entirely separate selections of the many thousands Wolff shot over a thirty-year period. Bibliography * Michael Cuscuna, Charlie Lourie & Oscar Schnider (1995) The Blue Note Years: The Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff, Rizzoli, ISBN 0-8478-1912-4 * Michael Cuscuna, Charlie Lourie & Oscar Schnider (2000) Blue Note: The Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff, UniverseRizzoli, ISBN 0-7893-0493-7 References and notes External links * Francis Wolff at Mosaic Records * Blue Note Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff * More Photographs By Francis Wolff Category:Blue Note Records Category:Blue Note Records Founders Category:Berlin Category:1907 Births Category:1908 Births Category:1971 Deaths